Chennai Super Kings will look to regain some momentum in what has been a start-stop campaign when it takes on Lucknow Super Giants in the reverse fixture at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday. The two sides met three days back in Lucknow, where LSG easily prevailed by eight wickets.
Super Kings enters a crucial phase of the tournament with three matches at home over the next eight days, which could determine its chance of making the playoffs. CSK has won all three games in its backyard this year and will want to continue that form to add to its four wins.
However, the defending champion has some big headaches to solve, mainly around its struggles in the PowerPlay with both bat and ball.
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Runs have dried up for key top-order batters like Rachin Ravindra and Ajinkya Rahane, and the batting relies heavily on Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube. The skipper demoted himself to the number three in the last two matches, and it will be interesting to see if he goes back to open instead of Rahane. Similarly, the pacers’ inability to give early breakthroughs will be an area the team needs to address.
Meanwhile, the Super Giants got some positives from the previous match. The bowlers set the game up before skipper K.L. Rahul led from the front with a quickfire half-century alongside Quinton de Kock. The presence of spinners Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, and M. Siddharth gives the visitors depth in their squad for the conditions in Chepauk as they look to do the double over the five-time champion.
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